BRIAN G. STELLER LEADS THE ESSEX COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

New Jersey Supreme Court Justice James R. Zazzali administers the oath of office to 2003-2004 Essex County Bar Association President Brian G. Steller, while his wife Candice, and daughters Lauren, Caroline, and Elizabeth look on.

Congratulations to Brian G. Steller, a member of Connell Foley LLP, who was elected president of the Essex County Bar Association on April 28. Mr. Steller, whose one-year term runs from 2003 to 2004, was sworn into his new post by New Jersey Supreme Court Justice James R. Zazzali during the association's annual election of officers and trustees at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange. He was introduced by his partner, Connell Foley LLP's Richard J. Badolato, who is president of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

Mr. Steller, a member of Connell Foley LLP since 1983, continues Connell Foley LLP's long-standing commitment to the Essex County Bar Association. Other members of the firm who have served as president of the association include Morris Schnitzer, Jerome Lyons, George Kenny, and Richard J. Badolato.

Mr. Steller received his B.A. degree from Villanova University and his J.D. degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. He clerked for the Newark firm of Zazzali, Zazzali & Kroll during law school and began his legal career in 1982 as a law clerk to Essex County Superior Court Judge, the Honorable Murray G. Simon, who is a past president of the Essex County Bar Association.

At Connell Foley LLP, Mr. Steller specializes in insurance defense trial practice and alternative dispute resolution, medical negligence, health care law, product liability, and personal injury law. He is a certified civil trial attorney and is admitted to practice in New Jersey, the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Court of International Trade. He is also a Master in the William J. Brennan American Inn of Court.

Mr. Steller has led a busy professional life and is currently the secretary/treasurer of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is also a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel and the New Jersey State Bar Association.

He has been a devoted member of the Essex County Bar Association, serving in a number of posts and committee positions over the years. These include trustee, secretary, treasurer, vice president, president-elect, and chairperson of various committees including the Joint Legal Medical Committee, the Civil Practice Committee, and the Annual Conference Committee. He is currently the chairperson of the Committee on Professionalism and is a fervent champion of its mission.

Mr. Steller was a member of the Bon Ton Repertory Company and served as the assistant dinner chairperson for the Essex County Bar Association's Centennial Gala in 1999 and the Bon Ton finale. He also served on the association's Centennial Committee, which published With Honor and Dignity: A History of the Legal Profession in Essex County in commemoration of the association's 100th anniversary. He has served as a moderator and panelist for numerous Essex County Bar Association continuing legal education programs throughout the past 20 years.

Active in community affairs, Mr. Steller is a former president and current officer of the College Men's Club of Westfield, a civic organization dedicated to providing college scholarship funds to deserving high school graduates. He resides in Westfield with his wife, Candice Lynn Marino, and their three daughters, Lauren, Caroline, and Elizabeth. Mr. Steller is also a former trustee of the Greater Elizabeth New Jersey Habitat for Humanity, which builds homes for low-income families. As of May 1, 2003, Mr. Steller serves on the Board of Governors at the Westfield Tennis Club in Westfield, New Jersey.

Connell Foley LLP is a full-service law firm established in 1936, with three offices located in Roseland, N.J., Jersey City, and New York City. The firm includes more than 85 lawyers engaged in a wide range of specialties, including civil litigation, corporate, labor and employment, banking, intellectual property and on-line law, real estate, environmental and land use, taxation and estate planning, personal injury, insurance, bankruptcy, toxic torts, and other fields.